Pendleton, Raisides steer their way to victory at last weekend’s annual Marblehead Race Week

Thursday

Aug 2, 2012 at 12:01 AMAug 2, 2012 at 2:18 AM

Led by co-skippers Charlie Pendleton and Jim Raisides, Bight Me accumulated 20 points in seven races over the course of the entire event to take top honors.

Staff reports

At long last, favorable winds arrived for the final day of the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta on Sunday, July 29, resulting in the most action-packed day of the entire 123rd annual Marblehead Race Week.

With each class completing multiple final day races, Bight Me from the Rhodes 19 class, executed masterful nautical tactics on the Massachusetts Bay course, impressing judges enough to secure the title of overall winner.

Led by co-skippers Charlie Pendleton and Jim Raisides, Bight Me accumulated 20 points in seven races over the course of the entire event to take top honors.

“It’s been a long week with the weather not always cooperating. We faced all types of conditions; light air, heavy air and waves,” said the Marblehead-based co-skippers. “With four days of racing in our class, this is one of the hardest regattas to win. We faced a lot of depth and well-round crews, and had to overcome very stiff competition.”

As the overall winner in Marblehead, both skippers will be invited to participate in the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Championship Regatta in the British Virgin Islands to compete in the season-ending event aboard Sunsail 44i’s against the other overall winners in the 2012 series.

The distinction is awarded to the top-performing boat each day, with the skippers from the boats receiving a pair of 7 by 50 binoculars from industry-leading manufacturer Steiner as a result of their outstanding performance.

Following Marblehead, the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta series will sail onto its final regular season stop in San Francisco, Calif.

Created by Sailing World in 1988, the NOOD series attracts nearly 2,000 boats and more than 30,000 competitors and spectators annually. Each event in the series features multiple days of sailboat racing for one-design models from 20 to 70 feet in length. In addition to local sailors, sailing’s top stars — including America’s Cup and Olympic champions — are well represented at the NOODs. Competitive sailors rate the NOODs as the top national event in each region of the country.

For more information on the 2012 Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta, visit www.sailingworld.com.